She was put in the care of Marie Isabelle de Rohan, duchesse de Tallard. Élisabeth was raised at Versailles with her twin, Henriette, their younger sisters Marie-Louise, Marie Adélaïde, and their brother, the Dauphin. Her younger sisters, Victoire, Sophie, Therese and Louise-Marie, however, were sent to be raised in the Abbey of Fontevraud in June 1738.

Élisabeth was not regarded to be as pretty as her twin: her nose was considered too short and too broad, her face too plump, her forehead too high and her complexion too dark and sometimes blotchy.[6] As a person, she was sometimes described as dull and indolent, but usually as vivacious and decided: it was said of her that she "knew how to exact obedience and to get her own way", and she was generally considered as quite charming and a "pleasing, piquant and intelligent personality".[6]

This engagement followed a tradition dating back to 1559 of cementing military and political alliances between the Catholic powers of France and Spain with royal marriages, despite this and the fact that Philip was her father's first cousin, the announcement of the marriage agreement was not well received at the French court, as there was little chance that Philip would become king of Spain, and that only a marriage with a crown prince or a king was deemed worthy of a princess of France.[6] The barrister Barbier wrote in his diary "It seems extraordinary that the eldest Daughter of France is not marrying a crowned head",[6] and d'Argenson speculated that the marriage was arranged only because of a plan to make Don Philip king of Naples and Sicily.[6] Élisabeth herself "considered her destiny to be less glorious than she had the right to expect", and when she was asked if she would not feel pleased to be called Infanta, her face reportedly "contracted into a scornful grimace".[6]

The twelve-year-old Élisabeth was married by proxy in Versailles on 26 August 1739, and thereafter known as Madame Infanta in France; in September, she left for Spain, and the king was reportedly so moved that he entered her carriage and accompanied her for the first miles on her journey. She passed the border and met her nineteen-year-old husband some thirty kilometers northeast of Madrid, at Alcalá de Henares, where the marriage ceremony took place on 25 October 1739.

Élisabeth made a personal success upon her arrival in Spain and was soon the "idol of Madrid".[6] She made a favorable impression on her father-in-law, king Philip V, and upon her spouse, prince Philip, her relationship with her mother-in-law, the domineering queen Elisabeth of Parma, however, soon became one of mutual dislike. The queen was displeased over the fact that Élisabeth's dowry was not paid by France, nor did France assist Spain in the war with Britain;[6] further more, after about six months the queen reportedly realized that she would not be able to control or dominate Élisabeth, as she was accustomed to do with her husband and son, and that her daughter-in-law could potentially replace her own influence over her son.[6] As a result, Elisabeth spent most of her time away from the Queen, playing with dolls and wrote of her unhappiness to her father.

Élisabeth soon came to dominate Philip; though he was eight years her senior, he, as his father, was reportedly of a timid, passive and submissive nature, and Élisabeth reportedly felt affection for him but generally treated him as "a boy much younger than herself although he was her senior by eight years".[6] de Luynes later observed: "Although the Prince at twenty-eight is as much of a child as he was at fourteen or fifteen, he has, nevertheless, an affectionate regard for the Infanta."[6]

Élisabeth is described as "keen, ambitious and enterprising, untiring in her energies and passionately fond of her changing Europe to the advantage of her House, of imbuing everyone with a love for France and of making her son a prince worthy of his great French forefathers".[6] She was not satisfied with her powerless position as the spouse of a prince with not prospects of being queen at the Spanish courts; she kept in contact with the French court through correspondence, in particular with her twin, informed her brother the Dauphin of all events at the Spanish court, and had already by 1740 established a net of contacts at the French court to assist her in her ambition to obtain an independent power position for herself and her spouse, "worthy of the birth of both".[6] Her twin Henriette, otherwise regarded as habitually apathetic of politics and gentle, was reportedly passionately devoted to work for the political ambition of her elder twin Élisabeth, as did her younger sister Adelaide and her sister-in-law Infanta Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain; the powerful Noailles and Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux, Count of Maurepas allied with the queen to achieve the same, and the French ambassador at Madrid, Monseigneur Vaurdal, Archbishop of Reims, was reportedly so willing to be of assistance that he was ridiculed for it.[6]

In 1741, Philip was called to serve in the War of the Austrian Succession, through which it was hoped that he would be able to secure one of the duchies of Northern Italy,[6] her mother-in-law Queen Elisabeth reportedly made sure that Philip stayed in camp for almost all of the War, separated from his wife, in order to avoid her from replacing his mother in his affection; through their correspondence, the queen repeatedly asked her son if he loved his wife: "I want to know if you love . : [the sign which Elisabeth Farnese used to denote her daughter-in-law when writing to her son] Tell me the truth!"[6] Despite the mutual antipathy between Élisabeth and her mother-in-law the queen, however, they were in fact united in their ambition and work to provide prince Philip with an independent power position,[6] during the war, Queen Elisabeth worked to secure her son Philip a throne in Italy, at the same time as her daughter-in-law used all her resources of her net of contacts to do the same. They succeeded in their common ambition in the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), when Philip was made ruler of the Duchy of Parma.

Élisabeth was pleased with her new position and with leaving the powerless position she had occupied at the court of Spain. However, she felt it necessary to obtain a substantial income of their own rather than to be solely provided for by Spain, as that would in practice make them but vassals of Spain, and therefore left Madrid for the French court with the ambition to secure an income to Parma from her father.[6]

Élisabeth was met in Choisy by her twin and her brother the Dauphin, she arrived in Versailles in 11 December 1748 with her retinue, composed of her camerara mayor the Marquise de Lcyde, her secretary of state the Due de Monteiano as major domo-in-chief, and three and three maids-of-honour.[6] The French court was amassed over her lack of pomp and elegance; it was said that she arrived in nothing more than what was absolutely necessary, and that she did not appear to own more clothes than what she had brought with her from France nine years earlier.[6] She was described as clever, quick and practical, with a robust strength of mind, and efficiently focused on state affairs.[6] A courtier described Élisabeth as "charming" and as having "piercing eyes" that "express(ed) intelligence" while another, less sympathetic observer claimed she looked like a "well-endowed young woman, matured by motherhood",[7] during her several-month stay in Versailles, she spent most of her time with her father the king, who several times daily when to her room via a private staircase to discuss business with her, and she successfully achieved her goal when her father granted two hundred thousand francs for the Duke of Parma.[6] Her strong will and influence on her father reportedly somewhat worried his maîtresse-en-titre, Madame de Pompadour.[6] When she left Versailles on 18 October 1749, she brought a French retinue of followers, a trosseau and so many gowns that D’Argenson commented that her journey had cost the State twelve hundred thousand livres.[6]

In December 1749, Élisabeth and her retinue of Spanish and French courtiers arrived in the Duchy of Parma, where they were welcomed by Philip and greeted by public celebrations in her honor; in Parma, she and her Philip lived in the Ducal Palace of Colorno. [8] Before the former duke of Parma, Philip' brother Charles, and left Parma to become king of Naples, he had reportedly stripped the palace in Parma of much of its interior decoration and furniture, and the residence also lacked a garden. Élisabeth spent great sums to create a residence and a host a court life to her taste; the whole arrangement and plan of the residence was redesigned, and she organised a ceremonial court life and hosted numerous festivities such as opera six times a week and trips to the second residence in Colonna and Piacenza.[6] To enforce the status of the Duchy, she also introduced the presence of a regiment of one hundred carbineers and a regiment of curassiers, despite the fact that the Duchy was in fact formally under the protection of France and Spain.[6]

As duchess of Parma, Élisabeth actively involved in state affairs; Philip never negotiated any business without consulting her, and she in turn never made a decision without considering the view of France and her French advisers.[6] Most of the officials of the court and government were French, and French was the language spoken at court, even by Philip, while she herself demonstratively promoted French influence in the duchy,[6] the French influence in Parma was not popular in the Duchy, opposition among the Italian public raged against both the French and Spanish rulers.[6] In 1750, Elisabeth's lady-in-waiting Madame de Leydc was claimed by a rumor to have poisoned France's Chief Minister at Parma, supposedly for being French,[6] the financial stress of the duchy was extensive, however, which created a problem.[6]

Élisabeth's twin sister Henriette died in 1752, and Élisabeth returned to France in September, visiting her tomb at Saint-Denis and remaining in Versailles for almost a year. She brought with her the duke de Noailles, who assisted her in the political transactions she held with her father during her stay, helping her to navigate between the party fractions at court. Élisabeth presented Louis XV and his ministers with a report of the state of Parma, stressing its financial need.[6] The duke de Noailles was sent to the French ambassador in Madrid to open negotiations between France and Spain regarding the contributions of the Duchy of Parma in January 1753, in which Élisabeth participated with all her contacts in France and Spain, supporting the French suggestion that France and Spain would share the expenses of the Duchy of Parma if the latter could guarantee her independence.[6] By the Franco-Spanish agreement of 1753, the Duchy of Parma was granted twenty five thousand francs, two millions in taxes and supplementary assistance when needed, in addition to making French influence in Parma formal and officially legal.[6] Elisabeth was hailed and praised in France for securing the French influence abroad by this agreement, in which she had played a vital part.[6]

Élisabeth returned to Parma in October 1753. Upon her return, she appointed Guillaume du Tillot as chief minister and administrator of the principality, securing both her own pro-French policy as well as marking France's de facto conquest of Parma;[6] in her policy, Élisabeth worked to free Parma from Spanish influence; to secure the succession of the duchy for her son and if possibly obtain a greater throne for him with French help; and to secure dynastic marriages for her daughters.[6] In accordance with her ambitions, she viewed Spain as her enemy and therefore supported the Treaty of Versailles of 1756, which allied France with Austria;[6] in the Treaty, it had been suggested that Austria would cede the Austrian Netherlands as a kingdom for Philip, which would be even more favorable for France than to have Parma as a vassal, a plan which was supported by both Elisabeth and Louis XV.[6] In this plan, she worked together with Madame de Pompadour to secure the Franco-Austrian alliance, and they also joined in their support of Choiseul.[6]

Élisabeth returned to France again in September 1757, to attend the negotiations between France and Austria. In the issue of Austria's wish to make the Austrian Netherlands a Kingdom for Philip in exchange for retrieving Silesia from Prussia with the support of France, she supported the idea, as it would mean a final liberation from the tutelage of Spain: "We shall not be happy until we get rid of them! This sentiment is more human than Christian. I am not sufficiently good to resist it!"[6] She did however not succeed in her efforts; in the treaty between Spain and Austria on the 3 October 1759, supported by Choiseul, the right of Philip in the Treaty of 1748 to succeed to the throne of Naples and Sicily should his brother Charles inherit the throne of Spain, was a great disappointment to her.[6] During her stay in France, she kept in contact with Philip by letters and informed him of her acts, negotiations, hopes and successes, as well as the intentions and actions of Louis’ Government, during this time, Elisabeth also appointed the philosopher Condillac as her son's tutor despite the opposition of the Jesuits, and arrange the marriage of her daughter Isabella to the Archduke Joseph of Austria, the future Emperor Joseph II, which took place in 1760.

Élisabeth fell ill while she was at Versailles, and died of smallpox on 6 December 1759 and was buried on 27 March 1760 at Saint-Denis Basilica beside her twin, Henriette. Their tombs were desecrated in 1793, during the French Revolution.

1.
Jean-Marc Nattier
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Jean-Marc Nattier, French painter, was born in Paris, the second son of Marc Nattier, a portrait painter, and of Marie Courtois, a miniaturist. He is noted for his portraits of the ladies of King Louis XVs court in classical mythological attire and he received his first instruction from his father, and from his uncle, the history painter Jean Jouvenet. In 1715 he went to Amsterdam, where Peter the Great was then staying, and painted portraits of the tsar and the empress Catherine, Nattier aspired to be a history painter. The financial collapse of 1720 caused by the schemes of Law all but ruined Nattier, who found himself forced to devote his energy to portraiture. He became the painter of the ladies of Louis XVs court. He subsequently revived the genre of the portrait, in which a living person is depicted as a Greco-Roman goddess or other mythological figure. Nattiers graceful and charming portraits of ladies in this mode were very fashionable. He died in Paris in 1766, many of his pictures are in the public collections of France. Thus at the Louvre is his Magdalen, at Nantes the portrait of La Camargo and A Lady of the Court of Louis XV. At Orléans a Head of a Young Girl, at Marseilles a portrait of Mme de Pompadour, at Perpignan a portrait of Louis XV, the Versailles Museum owns an important group of two ladies, and the Dresden Gallery a portrait of the Maréchal de Saxe. At the Wallace collection Nattier is represented by The comtesse de Tillières, Mademoiselle de Clermont en sultane, and The marquise de Belestat. In the early part of the 20th century in the collection of Mr Lionel Phillips were the duchess of Flavacourt as Le Silence, and the duchess of Châteauroux as Le Point du jour. A portrait of the Comtesse de Neubourg and her Daughter formed part of the Vaile Collection, nattiers works have been engraved by Alphonse Leroy, Tardieu, Jean Audran, Dupin and many other noted craftsmen. The Getty Museum has Madame Bonier de la Mosson as Diana,1742, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has Madame de Maison-Rouge as Diana,1756

2.
Piacenza
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Piacenza listen is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza, modern forms of the name descend from Latin Placentia. The etymology is long-standing, tracing an origin from the Latin verb placēre, in French, and occasionally in English, it is called Plaisance. The name means a pleasant abode, or as James Boswell reported some of the etymologists of his time to have translated it and this was a name of good omen. Piacenza is located at a crossroads at the intersection of Route E35/A1 between Bologna and Milan, and Route E70/A21 between Brescia and Tortona. Piacenza is also at the confluence of the Trebbia, draining the northern Apennine Mountains, Piacenza also hosts two universities, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and Polytechnic University of Milan. Before then, says Polybius, These plains were anciently inhabited by Etruscans before the Gauls took the entire Po Valley from them, Piacenza and Cremona were founded as Roman military colonies in May 218 BC. The Romans had planned to them after the successful conclusion of the latest war with the Gauls ending in 219 BC. In the spring of 218 BC, after declaring war on Carthage, the reaction of the regions Gauls was swift, they drove the colonists off the lands. Taking refuge in Mutina, the latter sent for military assistance, a small force under Lucius Manlius was prevented from reaching the area. The Senate then sent two legions under Gaius Atelius, collecting Manlius and the colonists, they descended on Piacenza and Cremona and successfully placed castra there of 480 square metres to support the building of the city. Piacenza must have been walled immediately, as the walls were in place when the Battle of the Trebia was fought around the city in December. There is no evidence either textual or archaeological of a settlement at that exact location, however. Piacenza was the 53rd colony to be placed by Rome since its foundation and it was the first among the Gauls of the Po valley. It had to be supplied by boat after the Battle of Trebbia, in 209 BC, Hasdrubal Barca crossed the Alps and laid siege to the city, but he was unable to take it and withdrew. In 200 BC, the Gauls sacked and burned it, selling the population into slavery, subsequently, the victorious Romans restored the city and managed to recover 2000 citizens. In 198 BC, a force of Gauls and Ligurians plundered the whole region. As the people had never recovered from being sold into slavery, in 190 BC they complained to Senate of underpopulation, the construction of the Via Aemilia in the 180s made the city easily accessible from the Adriatic ports, which improved trade and the prospects for timely defense

3.
Guastalla
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Guastalla is a town and comune in the province of Reggio Emilia in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Guastalla is situated in the Po Valley, and lies on the banks of the Po River, Guastalla is located at around 30 kilometres from the cities of Reggio Emilia, Parma, and Mantua. The area of Guastalla was probably settled by Etruscans as early as the 7th century BCE, but the name of the city is mentioned for the first time in 864 CE. Of Lombard origin, the city was ruled by the Torelli family from 1406 to 1539, when it became the capital of a duchy under the Gonzaga family and housed artists like Guercino and Torquato Tasso. In 1748, by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, the city part of the Duchy of Parma, Piacenza e Guastalla, to which it belonged until 1847. Since the unification of Italy in 1861 Guastalla has been a part of Italy, smalterie Metallurgiche Emiliane Guastalla, a manufacturer of world famous designer domestic appliances, was founded and still has its headquarters in Guastalla. Vittorio Bertazzoni founded the company in the village in 1948 and the company remains in the private ownership of the Bertazzoni family. Smeg is best known for its FAB range of 1950s-style, retro refrigerators with curved corners in a variety of non-traditional colours, the company, which began as a metal enamelling factory, also manufactures dishwashers, washing machines and other appliances. Guastalla town, The Cathedral by Francesco da Volterra, the octagonal Oratory of Madonna della Concezione. The church of Santa Maria dei Servi, designed by Francesco da Volterra, noteworthy in the interior is a Deposition, canvas by Giuseppe Maria Crespi. The Civic Tower, in the location where once was the Spanish Castle Around Guastalla, the Basilica of St. Peter at Pieve di Guastalla, which was seat of two Roman Catholic councils. It houses an ancient baptismal font and painted terracotta portraying the Madonna with Child, forcalquier, France Giovinazzo, Italy Gabicce Mare, Italy In-Grid, Italian pop-dance artist County of Guastalla Duchy of Guastalla Rulers of Guastalla

4.
Palace of Versailles
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The Palace of Versailles, Château de Versailles, or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. Versailles is therefore not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of absolute monarchy of the Ancien Régime. First built by Louis XIII in 1623, as a lodge of brick and stone. The first phase of the expansion was designed and supervised by the architect Louis Le Vau and it culminated in the addition of three new wings of stone, which surrounded Louis XIIIs original building on the north, south, and west. After Le Vaus death in 1670, the work was taken over and completed by his assistant, charles Le Brun designed and supervised the elaborate interior decoration, and André Le Nôtre landscaped the extensive Gardens of Versailles. Le Brun and Le Nôtre collaborated on the fountains, and Le Brun supervised the design. During the second phase of expansion, two enormous wings north and south of the wings flanking the Cour Royale were added by the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart. He also replaced Le Vaus large terrace, facing the garden on the west, with became the most famous room of the palace. The Royal Chapel of Versailles, located at the end of the north wing, was begun by Mansart in 1688. One of the most baffling aspects to the study of Versailles is the cost – how much Louis XIV, owing to the nature of the construction of Versailles and the evolution of the role of the palace, construction costs were essentially a private matter. Initially, Versailles was planned to be a residence for Louis XIV and was referred to as the kings house. Once Louis XIV embarked on his campaigns, expenses for Versailles became more of a matter for public record. To counter the costs of Versailles during the years of Louis XIVs personal reign. Accordingly, all materials that went into the construction and decoration of Versailles were manufactured in France, even the mirrors used in the decoration of the Hall of Mirrors were made in France. While Venice in the 17th century had the monopoly on the manufacture of mirrors, to meet the demands for decorating and furnishing Versailles, Colbert nationalised the tapestry factory owned by the Gobelin family, to become the Manufacture royale des Gobelins. In 1667, the name of the enterprise was changed to the Manufacture royale des Meubles de la Couronne, the Comptes meticulously list the expenditures on the silver furniture – disbursements to artists, final payments, delivery – as well as descriptions and weight of items purchased. Entries for 1681 and 1682 concerning the silver used in the salon de Mercure serve as an example. 5 In anticipation, For the silver balustrade for the bedroom,90,000 livres II

5.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks

6.
Basilica of St Denis
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The Basilica of Saint Denis is a large medieval abbey church in the city of Saint-Denis, now a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of unique importance historically and architecturally as its choir, completed in 1144, the site originated as a Gallo-Roman cemetery in late Roman times. The archeological remains still lie beneath the cathedral, the people buried there seem to have had a faith that was a mix of Christian and pre-Christian beliefs, around 475 St. Genevieve purchased some land and built Saint-Denys de la Chapelle. In 636 on the orders of Dagobert I the relics of Saint Denis, the relics of St-Denis, which had been transferred to the parish church of the town in 1795, were brought back again to the abbey in 1819. Saint-Denis soon became the church of a growing monastic complex. In the 12th century the Abbot Suger rebuilt portions of the church using innovative structural. In doing so, he is said to have created the first truly Gothic building, the abbey church became a cathedral in 1966 and is the seat of the Bishop of Saint-Denis, Pascal Michel Ghislain Delannoy. Although known as the Basilica of St Denis, the cathedral has not been granted the title of Minor Basilica by the Vatican, Saint Denis, a patron saint of France, became the first bishop of Paris. A martyrium was erected on the site of his grave, which became a place of pilgrimage during the fifth and sixth centuries. Dagobert, the king of the Franks, refounded the church as the Abbey of Saint Denis, Dagobert also commissioned a new shrine to house the saints remains, which was created by his chief councillor, Eligius, a goldsmith by training. He composed a crest and a magnificent frontal and surrounded the throne of the altar with golden axes in a circle and he placed golden apples there, round and jeweled. He made a pulpit and a gate of silver and a roof for the throne of the altar on silver axes and he made a covering in the place before the tomb and fabricated an outside altar at the feet of the holy martyr. So much industry did he lavish there, at the kings request, the Basilica of St Denis ranks as an architectural landmark—as the first major structure of which a substantial part was designed and built in the Gothic style. Both stylistically and structurally, it heralded the change from Romanesque architecture to Gothic architecture, before the term Gothic came into common use, it was known as the French Style. As it now stands, the church is a cruciform building of basilica form. It has an aisle on the northern side formed of a row of chapels. The west front has three portals, a window and one tower, on the southern side. The eastern end, which is built over a crypt, is apsidal, surrounded by an ambulatory, the basilica retains stained glass of many periods, including exceptional modern glass, and a set of twelve misericords

7.
Philip, Duke of Parma
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Philip of Spain was Duke of Parma from 1748 to 1765. He founded the House of Bourbon-Parma, a line of the Spanish branch of the dynasty. He was a son-in-law of Louis XV, born at the Royal Alcazar in Madrid, he was the third child and second son of Philip V of Spain and his wife, Elisabeth Farnese. He was raised in Madrid and as a child showed more interest in art than in politics and his mother came from the family of Farnese, which had ruled the Duchy of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla for many generations. The duchy had been ruled between 1731 and 1736 by his elder brother Charles, but was exchanged with Austria for The Two Sicilies after the War of Polish Succession. Twelve years later, in the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, Austria lost the duchy and Philip became the new duke, the Duchy of Parma was ruined by many years of warfare, and in 1759 Philip named the able Frenchman Guillaume du Tillot as his minister to restore the economy. Philip was a ruler who stimulated education and philosophy, attracting personalities like Étienne Bonnot de Condillac. Philip married his first cousin once removed Princess Louise Élisabeth of France in Alcalá de Henares and they had the following children, Isabella Luisa Antonietta Ferdinanda Giuseppina Saveria Dominica Giovanna of Parma – she married Marie Antoinettes older brother, the Austrian emperor, Joseph II. She had issue, but all her children died in childhood, Luisa Maria Teresa Ana of Parma – she was known as Maria Luisa. She married her cousin, the Infante Carlos of Spain, and their marriage was an unhappy one, and Louise Elisabeth died of smallpox at the age of 32 in 1759. Philip died unexpectedly on 18 July 1765 in Alessandria, Italy, after having accompanied his daughter Maria Luisa on her way to Genoa, where she sailed for Spain to marry Infante Charles. Through Philips daughter Maria Luisa, he is an ancestor of the Bourbons of Spain, the Bourbons of the Two Sicilies, and the House of Orléans. 15 March 1720 –1749 His Royal Highness Don Felipe, Infante of Spain 1749 –18 July 1765 His Royal Highness the Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla

8.
Princess Isabella of Parma
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Isabella of Parma was the daughter of Infante Felipe of Spain, Duke of Parma and his wife Louise Elisabeth, eldest daughter of Louis XV of France and Maria Leszczyńska. Her paternal grandparents were Philip V of Spain and his second wife and her father was the Spanish Prince Philip, who was Duke of Parma in Italy. Her mother was the 14 year old Elisabeth of France, the eldest daughter of Louis XV of France, Isabellas parents marriage was not happy, and for nearly 10 years Isabella remained an only child. Isabella was very close to her mother and was distraught when she died of smallpox in 1759, henceforth, Isabella was convinced she would die young, too. In 1760 a marriage was arranged between Isabella and Archduke Joseph of Austria, heir to the Habsburg Monarchy, after a marriage by proxy, Isabella was escorted to Austria. On 6 October 1760, at the age of 18, Isabella married Joseph II in a ceremony lasting for days, Joseph was thrilled with his new bride and overwhelmed Isabella with his love. In return, she locked herself away, so much so that shortly after their wedding. The princess spent most of her time in the Viennese court, not with her husband, but with his sister, Archduchess Maria Christina, the two women loved each other deeply. During the few years Isabella and Christina knew each other, they exchanged 200 letters and they spent so much time together that they earned the comparison with Orpheus and Eurydice. Isabel and Maria were united not only by a shared interest in music and art, every day they wrote long letters to each other in which they revealed their feelings of love. In one such letter, Isabella wrote, I am writing you again, cruel sister, I cannot bear waiting to know my fate, and to learn whether you consider me a person worthy of your love, or whether you would like to throw me into the river. I can think of nothing but that I am deeply in love, if I only knew why this is so, for you are so without mercy that one should not love you, but I cannot help myself. In a different letter she wrote, I am told that the day begins with God, I, however, begin the day by thinking of the object of my love, for I think of her incessantly. Only the letters of Isabella have been preserved, those of Maria Christina were destroyed after her death, however, as wife of the heir to the throne, Isabella knew that her duty was to give birth to a healthy heir. Despite this, the princess developed disquieted feelings toward her husband, spurred by anxieties over sexual intimacy, by late 1761, one year into the marriage, Isabella was pregnant. On March 20,1762, after nine months of mental and physical strain, Isabella remained bedridden for 6 weeks after giving birth. In August 1762 and January 1763 Isabella suffered two separate miscarriages that aggravated her mental unrest, causing her to fall into a depression that eroded her will to live, in 1763, Isabella was six months pregnant with a baby girl when she contracted smallpox. On 22 November of the year, this brought on premature labor ending in the death of the child, who was given the name Maria Christina

9.
Ferdinand, Duke of Parma
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He was a member of the Spanish House of Bourbon. As a grandson in the line of King Philip V of Spain. As a grandson of King Louis, Ferdinand was also a descendant of Englands William the Conqueror. As the heir to one of the largest collection of sovereign duchies, probable candidates included the heiress Princess Maria Beatrice Ricciarda of Modena, daughter of Ercole III of Modena and an in law of Marie Antoinette. Another candidate was Louise Marie Thérèse Bathilde dOrléans who offered a large dowry, she was the only surviving daughter of Louis Philippe I. She was the sister of Philippe Égalité and this never occurred and, as a result, an alliance with the Austrian Empire was used to cement the two nations. Guillaume du Tillot was again used during Ferdinands reign when he lost his father in 1765 aged 14, Maria Amalia had a marriage by proxy in Vienna on 27 June and left her home on 1 July. The future duchess would meet her husband at Mantua on 16 July and his wife was with her brother Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor and Ferdinand with members of the Sforza family. On 19 July there was a ceremony for all at the Ducal Palace of Colorno where Ferdinand had been born. During many festivities, the made their official entrance to Parma on 24 July. They had nine children in just under twenty years, Ferdinand ceded the Duchy of Parma to France in the Treaty of Aranjuez. The Treaty of Aranjuez was signed on 21 March 1801 between France and Spain, the overall accord confirmed the terms presented in the Treaty of San Ildefonso. Moreover, Ferdinand agreed to surrender the Duchy of Parma to France, Ferdinands son Louis received the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, which became the Kingdom of Etruria. Ferdinand III, the Habsburg Grand Duke of Tuscany, was compensated with the territories of the Archbishop of Salzburg. He died in Parma at age 51, suspected to be poisoned although French authorities cited another reason for his death, and was buried in the church of Fontevivo Abbey. On his deathbed, however, he named a regency council with his wife Maria Amalia as its head, the regency lasted only for days and the Duchy of Parma was annexed to France. Princess Carolina Maria Teresa Giuseppa of Parma, married Prince Maximilian of Saxony Prince Louis Francis Philibert of Parma, married his cousin born Maria Luisa Josefa Antonietta Vicentia of Spain and had issue, was the first of only two Kings of Etruria. Princess Maria Antonia Giuseppa Walburga Anna Luisa Vicenza Margherita Caterina of Parma, Princess Carlotta Maria of Parma, who became a prioress

10.
Maria Luisa of Parma
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Maria Luisa of Parma was Queen consort of Spain from 1788 to 1808 as the wife of King Charles IV of Spain. She was the youngest daughter of Philip, Duke of Parma and his wife, Princess Louise-Élisabeth of France, born in Parma, she was christened Luisa Maria Teresa Anna, but is known to history by the short Spanish form of this name, María Luisa. Her parents had been the Duke and Duchess of Parma since 1749 and she, her brother Ferdinand, and her sister Isabella were educated in Parma by Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, a well-known French philosopher. María Luisas mother tried to engage her to Louis, Duke of Burgundy, however, the young duke died in 1761. In 1762 Maria Luisa instead became engaged to Charles, Prince of Asturias, later King Charles IV of Spain, as there was no queen in Spain at that time, María Luisa became the first lady in precedence at the court from the beginning of her residence there. Her husband was the son and heir of the widowed Charles III of Spain, previously Duke of Parma and King of Naples, due to pressure from Napoleon I, Marías husband abdicated the throne of Spain and spent the rest of his life in exile. When Napoleons army invaded the country, several pamphlets blamed her for the abdication, María Luisa spent some years in France and then in Rome. Both María Luisa and her husband died in Italy in early 1819, in 1792, the Order of Queen Maria Luisa for women was founded on her suggestion. Maria Luisa married her first cousin Charles IV, in 1765, a miscarriage of a daughter in the 6th month of pregnancy. A miscarriage in the 1st month of pregnancy, a miscarriage of a son in the 4th and a half month of pregnancy. A miscarriage in the 1st month of pregnancy, a miscarriage in the 1st month of pregnancy. A miscarriage in the 1st month of pregnancy, a miscarriage of a son in the 5th and a half month of pregnancy. A miscarriage of a son in the 4th and a month of pregnancy. EPTON, Nina, The Spanish mousetrap, Napoleon and the Court of Spain, HILT, Douglas, The troubled trinity, Godoy and the Spanish monarchs

11.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth

12.
Spanish language
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Spanish —also called Castilian —is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain, with hundreds of millions of native speakers around the world. It is usually considered the worlds second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese and it is one of the few languages to use inverted question and exclamation marks. Spanish is a part of the Ibero-Romance group of languages, which evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Beginning in the early 16th century, Spanish was taken to the colonies of the Spanish Empire, most notably to the Americas, as well as territories in Africa, Oceania, around 75% of modern Spanish is derived from Latin. Greek has also contributed substantially to Spanish vocabulary, especially through Latin, Spanish vocabulary has been in contact from an early date with Arabic, having developed during the Al-Andalus era in the Iberian Peninsula. With around 8% of its vocabulary being Arabic in origin, this language is the second most important influence after Latin and it has also been influenced by Basque as well as by neighboring Ibero-Romance languages. It also adopted words from languages such as Gothic language from the Visigoths in which many Spanish names and surnames have a Visigothic origin. Spanish is one of the six languages of the United Nations. It is the language in the world by the number of people who speak it as a mother tongue, after Mandarin Chinese. It is estimated more than 437 million people speak Spanish as a native language. Spanish is the official or national language in Spain, Equatorial Guinea, speakers in the Americas total some 418 million. In the European Union, Spanish is the tongue of 8% of the population. Spanish is the most popular second language learned in the United States, in 2011 it was estimated by the American Community Survey that of the 55 million Hispanic United States residents who are five years of age and over,38 million speak Spanish at home. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 uses the term castellano to define the language of the whole Spanish State in contrast to las demás lenguas españolas. Article III reads as follows, El castellano es la lengua española oficial del Estado, las demás lenguas españolas serán también oficiales en las respectivas Comunidades Autónomas. Castilian is the official Spanish language of the State, the other Spanish languages as well shall be official in their respective Autonomous Communities. The Spanish Royal Academy, on the hand, currently uses the term español in its publications. Two etymologies for español have been suggested, the Spanish Royal Academy Dictionary derives the term from the Provençal word espaignol, and that in turn from the Medieval Latin word Hispaniolus, from—or pertaining to—Hispania

13.
Italian language
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By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages

14.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic

15.
House of Bourbon
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The House of Bourbon is a European royal house of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century, by the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma. Spain and Luxembourg currently have Bourbon monarchs, the royal Bourbons originated in 1268, when the heiress of the lordship of Bourbon married a younger son of King Louis IX. The house continued for three centuries as a branch, while more senior Capetians ruled France, until Henry IV became the first Bourbon king of France in 1589. Restored briefly in 1814 and definitively in 1815 after the fall of the First French Empire, a cadet Bourbon branch, the House of Orléans, then ruled for 18 years, until it too was overthrown. The Princes de Condé were a branch of the Bourbons descended from an uncle of Henry IV. Both houses were prominent in French affairs, even during exile in the French Revolution, until their respective extinctions in 1830 and 1814. When the Bourbons inherited the strongest claim to the Spanish throne, the claim was passed to a cadet Bourbon prince, a grandson of Louis XIV of France, who became Philip V of Spain. The Spanish House of Bourbon has been overthrown and restored several times, reigning 1700–1808, 1813–1868, 1875–1931, Bourbons ruled in Naples from 1734–1806 and in Sicily from 1734–1816, and in a unified Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from 1816–1860. They also ruled in Parma from 1731–1735, 1748–1802 and 1847–1859, all legitimate, living members of the House of Bourbon, including its cadet branches, are direct agnatic descendants of Henry IV. The term House of Bourbon is sometimes used to refer to this first house and the House of Bourbon-Dampierre, the second family to rule the seigneury. In 1268, Robert, Count of Clermont, sixth son of King Louis IX of France, married Beatrix of Bourbon, heiress to the lordship of Bourbon and their son Louis was made Duke of Bourbon in 1327. His descendant, the Constable of France Charles de Bourbon, was the last of the senior Bourbon line when he died in 1527. Because he chose to fight under the banner of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and lived in exile from France, the remaining line of Bourbons henceforth descended from James I, Count of La Marche, the younger son of Louis I, Duke of Bourbon. With the death of his grandson James II, Count of La Marche in 1438, all future Bourbons would descend from James IIs younger brother, Louis, who became the Count of Vendôme through his mothers inheritance. In 1514, Charles, Count of Vendôme had his title raised to Duke of Vendôme and his son Antoine became King of Navarre, on the northern side of the Pyrenees, by marriage in 1555. Two of Antoines younger brothers were Cardinal Archbishop Charles de Bourbon, Louis male-line, the Princes de Condé, survived until 1830. Finally, in 1589, the House of Valois died out and he was born on 13 December 1553 in the Kingdom of Navarre

16.
Louis XV of France
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Louis XV, known as Louis the Beloved, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five, Cardinal Fleury was his chief minister from 1726 until the Cardinals death in 1743, at which time the young king took sole control of the kingdom. During his reign, Louis returned the Austrian Netherlands, territory won at the Battle of Fontenoy of 1745, Louis also ceded New France in North America to Spain and Great Britain at the conclusion of the Seven Years War in 1763. He incorporated the territories of Lorraine and Corsica into the kingdom of France and he was succeeded by his grandson Louis XVI in 1774. French culture and influence were at their height in the first half of the eighteenth century, however, many scholars believe that Louis XVs decisions damaged the power of France, weakened the treasury, discredited the absolute monarchy, and made it more vulnerable to distrust and destruction. Evidence for this view is provided by the French Revolution, which broke out 15 years after his death, norman Davies characterized Louis XVs reign as one of debilitating stagnation, characterized by lost wars, endless clashes between the Court and Parliament, and religious feuds. A few scholars defend Louis, arguing that his negative reputation was based on propaganda meant to justify the French Revolution. Jerome Blum described him as a perpetual adolescent called to do a mans job, Louis XV was born in the Palace of Versailles on 15 February 1710 during the reign of Louis XIV. His grandfather, Louis Le Grand Dauphin, had three sons with his wife Marie Anne Victoire of Bavaria, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, and Charles, Duke of Berry. Louis XV was the son of the Duke of Burgundy and his wife Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, the eldest daughter of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy. At birth, Louis XV received a title for younger sons of the French royal family. In April 1711, Louis Le Grand Dauphin suddenly died, making Louis XVs father, the Duke of Burgundy, at that time, Burgundy had two living sons, Louis, Duke of Brittany and his youngest son, the future Louis XV. A year later, Marie Adélaïde, Duchess of Burgundy, contracted smallpox and her husband, said to be heartbroken by her death, died the same week, also having contracted smallpox. Within a week of his death, it was clear that the two children had also been infected. The elder son was treated by bloodletting in an unsuccessful effort to save him. Fearing that the Dauphin would die, the Court had both the Dauphin and the Duke of Anjou baptised, the Dauphin died the same day,8 March 1712. His younger brother, the Duke of Anjou, was treated by his governess, Madame de Ventadour. The two year old Dauphin survived the smallpox, on 1 September 1715, Louis XIV died of gangrene, having reigned for 72 years

17.
Royal Highness
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Royal Highness is a style used to address or refer to some members of royal families, usually princes other than monarchs and their female consorts. When used as a form of address, spoken or written. When used as a reference, it is gender-specific and, in plural. Holders of the style Royal Highness generally rank below holders of the style Imperial Highness, by the 17th century, all local rulers in Italy adopted the style Highness, that was once used by kings and emperors only. Thus, the first use of the style Royal Highness was recorded in 1633, gaston, Duke of Orléans, younger son of King Henry IV of France, encountered the style in Brussels and assumed it himself. His children later used the style, considering it their prerogative as grandchildren of France, by the 18th century, Royal Highness had become the prevalent style for members of a continental reigning dynasty whose head bore the hereditary title of king or queen. The titles of members of non-hereditary rulers were less clear. Even in the cases of the titles, they usually only exist as courtesies. The chiefly appellation Kabiyesi is likewise used as the equivalent of the HRH, the title of Archduke or Archduchess of Austria was known to be complemented with the style of Royal Highness to all of the members of the House of Habsburg and later the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. The title of Prince/Princess of the Netherlands with the style of H. R. H. is or may be granted by law to the following classes of persons. The heir apparent to the throne, the spouse of the heir apparent. The children of the monarch, other than the heir apparent, the children of the heir apparent. A Prince/Princess of Orange-Nassau who is not also a Prince/Princess of the Netherlands is addressed as His/Her Highness without the predicate royal and that is the case for example of the children of Princess Margriet, younger daughter of the late Queen Juliana. In the British monarchy the style of Royal Highness is associated with the rank of prince or princess and this is especially important when a prince has another title such as Duke by which he or she would usually be addressed. In the United Kingdom, letters patent dated 21 August 1996 stated that the wife of a member of the Royal Family loses the right to the style of HRH in the event of their divorce. It was for this reason that when the Prince and Princess of Wales divorced, she ceased to be Royal Highness, and was styled Diana, Princess of Wales. Almost a year before, according to the claim of writer Tina Brown. The Princess of Wales is said to have replied, My title is a lot older than yours and she noted that the Spencer family, the family she was born to, is older than the House of Windsor

18.
Queen consort
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A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. In Brunei, the wife of the Sultan is known as a Raja Isteri with prefix Pengiran Anak, equivalent with queen consort in English, a queen consort usually shares her husbands social rank and status. She holds the equivalent of the kings monarchical titles, but historically, she does not share the kings political. A queen regnant is a queen in her own right with all the powers of a monarch, where some title other than that of king is held by the sovereign, his wife is referred to by the feminine equivalent, such as princess consort or empress consort. In monarchies where polygamy has been practiced in the past, or is practiced today. In Morocco, King Mohammed VI has broken with tradition and given his wife, Lalla Salma, prior to the reign of King Mohammed VI, the Moroccan monarchy had no such title. In Thailand, the king and queen must both be of royal descent, the kings other consorts are accorded royal titles that confer status. Other cultures maintain different traditions on queenly status, a Zulu chieftain designates one of his wives Great Wife, which would be the equivalent to queen consort. Conversely, in Yorubaland, all of a chiefs princess consorts are essentially of equal rank, in general, the consorts of monarchs have no power per se, even when their position is constitutionally or statutorily recognized. In some cases, the queen consort has been the power behind her husbands throne, e. g. Maria Luisa of Parma. Past queens consort, Queen Jang, consort to Sukjong of Joseon

19.
Twin
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Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy. Twins can be either monozygotic, meaning that they develop from one zygote, in fraternal twins, each twin is fertilized by its own sperm cell. In contrast, a fetus that develops alone in the womb is called a singleton, the human twin birth rate in the United States rose 76% from 1980 through 2009, from 18.9 to 33.3 per 1,000 births. In Central Africa there are 18–30 twin sets per 1,000 live births, in Latin America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, the lowest rates are found, only 6 to 9 twin sets per 1,000 live births. North America and Europe have intermediate rates of 9 to 16 twin sets per 1,000 live births, Multiple pregnancies are much less likely to carry to full term than single births, with twin pregnancies lasting on average 37 weeks, three weeks less than full term. Women who have a history of fraternal twins have a higher chance of producing fraternal twins themselves. There is no genetic link for identical twinning. Other factors that increase the odds of having fraternal twins include maternal age, fertility drugs and other fertility treatments, nutrition, the vast majority of twins are either dizygotic or monozygotic. Less common variants are discussed further down the article, the rates for singletons vary slightly by country. For example, the sex ratio of birth in the US is 1.05 males/female, while it is 1.07 males/female in Italy. However, males are more susceptible than females to die in utero. Zygosity is the degree of identity in the genome of twins, dizygotic or fraternal twins usually occur when two fertilized eggs are implanted in the uterus wall at the same time. When two eggs are fertilized by two different sperm cells, fraternal twins result. The two eggs, or ova, form two zygotes, hence the terms dizygotic and biovular. Fraternal twins are, essentially, two siblings who happen to be born at the same time, since they arise from two separate eggs fertilized by two separate sperm, just like ordinary siblings. This is the most common type of twin, dizygotic twins, like any other siblings, have an extremely small chance of having the same chromosome profile. Even if they happen to have the same profile, they will always have different genetic material on each chromosome. Like any other siblings, dizygotic twins may look similar, particularly given that they are the same age, however, dizygotic twins may also look very different from each other

20.
Philip V of Spain
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Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a grandson of King Louis XIV. His father, Louis, the Grand Dauphin, had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain when it became vacant in 1700. It was well known that the union of France and Spain under one monarch would upset the balance of power in Europe, Philip was the first member of the House of Bourbon to rule as king of Spain. The sum of his two reigns,45 years and 21 days, is the longest in modern Spanish history and he was a younger brother of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, the father of Louis XV of France. At birth, Philip was created Duke of Anjou, a title for younger sons in the French royal family. He would be known by name until he became the king of Spain. Philip was tutored with his brothers by François Fénelon, Archbishop of Cambrai, the three were also educated by Paul de Beauvilliers. In 1700 the King Charles II of Spain died childless and his will named the turning 17-year-old Philip, grandson of Charles half-sister Maria Theresa, the first wife of Louis XIV, as his successor. Upon any possible refusal, the crown of Spain would be offered next to Philips younger brother, Philip had the better genealogical claim to the Spanish throne, because his Spanish grandmother and great-grandmother were older than the ancestors of the Archduke Charles of Austria. However, the Austrian branch claimed that Philips grandmother had renounced the Spanish throne for herself and this was countered by the French branchs claim that it was on the basis of a dowry that had never been paid. After the Royal Council decided to accept the provisions of the will of Charles II naming Philip king of Spain, the ambassador, along with his son, knelt before Philip and made a long speech in Spanish which Philip did not understand, although Louis XIV did. Philip only later learned to speak Spanish, on 2 November 1701 the almost 18 year old Philip married the 13-year-old Maria Luisa of Savoy, as chosen by his grandfather King Louis XIV, by then an old man of 63. She was the daughter of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy, there was a proxy ceremony at Turin, the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, and another one at Versailles on 11 September. As queen of Spain, Maria Luisa proved very popular with her subjects and she served as regent for her husband on several occasions. Her most successful term was when Philip was away touring his Italian domains for nine months in 1702, in 1714, she died at the age of 26 from tuberculosis, a devastating emotional blow to her husband. The actions of Louis XIV heightened the fears of the English, the Dutch, however, a second act of the French king justified a hostile interpretation, pursuant to a treaty with Spain, Louis occupied several towns in the Spanish Netherlands. This was the spark that ignited the powder keg created by the issues of the War of the League of Augsburg. Almost immediately the War of the Spanish Succession began, inside Spain, the Crown of Castile supported Philip of France

21.
Duchy of Parma
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The Duchy of Parma was created in 1545 from that part of the Duchy of Milan south of the Po River, which was conquered by the Papal States in 1512. These territories, centered on the city of Parma, were given as a fief for Pope Paul IIIs illegitimate son, Pier Luigi Farnese. In 1556, the second Duke, Ottavio Farnese, was given the city of Piacenza, becoming thus also Duke of Piacenza and he ruled until 1735 during the War of the Polish Succession, when Parma was ceded to Emperor Charles VI in exchange for the Two Sicilies. As Duke Philip, he became the founder of the House of Bourbon-Parma reigning over the Duchy of Parma, Piacenza, in 1796, the duchy was occupied by French troops under Napoleon Bonaparte, and the political situation of the State became extremely confused. Napoleon was undecided about the future of the duchy, aspiring to an engagement of the Bourbons in the European wars as his allies. Even as French laws and administration were introduced, the formal annexation to the French Empire was declared only in 1808 after the outbreak of the conflict against Bourbonic Spain. The duchy was reformed as the département of Taro, in 1814, the duchies were restored under Napoleons Habsburg wife, Marie Louise, who ruled them for the rest of her life. After Marie Louises death in 1847, the Duchy was restored to the Bourbon-Parma line, in this context, Guastalla was ceded to Modena. The Bourbons ruled until 1859, when they were out by a revolution following the French. The House of Bourbon continues to claim the title of duke of Parma to this day, prince Carlos of Bourbon-Parma has held the title since 2010. Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, French diplomacy in the age of revolution, alessandro Cont, Il potere della tradizione. Guillaume Du Tillot e la questione della nobiltà, Nuova Rivista Storica,100,1, pp. 73-106

22.
Bourbon-Parma
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The House of Bourbon-Parma is an Italian cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. It is thus descended from the French Capetian dynasty in male line, the name of Bourbon-Parma comes from the main name and the other from the title of Duke of Parma. The title was held by the Spanish Bourbons as the founder was the great-grandson of Duke Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma. The Duchy of Parma was created in 1545 from that part of the Duchy of Milan south of the Po River, as a fief for Pope Paul IIIs illegitimate son, Pier Luigi Farnese, centered on the city of Parma. In 1556, the second Duke, Ottavio Farnese, was given the city of Piacenza, becoming thus also Duke of Piacenza and he ruled until 1735 during the War of the Polish Succession, when Parma was ceded to Emperor Charles VI in exchange for the Two Sicilies. The Habsburgs only ruled until the conclusion of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, as duke Philip, he became the founder of the House of Bourbon-Parma. In 1796, the duchy was occupied by French troops under Napoleon Bonaparte, in the Treaty of Aranjuez of 1801, duke Ferdinand formally agreed to cede the duchy to Napoleon. In 1814, the duchies were restored under Napoleons Habsburg wife, Marie Louise, the duchy was renamed the duchy of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, the name that it retained until the end. After Marie Louises death in 1847, the duchy was restored to the Bourbon-Parma line, the Bourbons ruled until 1859, when they were driven out by a revolution following the Sardinian victory in their war against Austria. The House of Bourbon continues to claim the title of duke of Parma to this day, carlos-Hugo held the title from 1977 to his death. His son now claims the title, during the French ownership of the Duchy of Parma, the title of Duke of Parma was used as an honorary form and style. From 1808, the title was used by Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès and he kept the style of Duc de Parme till 1814. Only in 1847 was the title restored to the Bourbons, after a period of being held by Marie Louise of Austria, wife of Napoleon I. Jean was the son of Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma, a son of Robert I of Parma. Charlottes descendants have reigned as the continued dynasty of Nassau. In October 2000 Jean abdicated the Luxembourgian throne in favour of his eldest son, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg

23.
Fils de France
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Fils de France was the style and rank held by the sons of the kings and dauphins of France. A daughter was known as a fille de France, the children of the dauphin were accorded the same style and status as if they were the kings children instead of his grandchildren or great-grandchildren. The king, queen, queen dowager, enfants de France, the dauphin, the heir to the French throne, was the most senior of the fils de France and was usually addressed as Monsieur le dauphin. The kings next younger brother, also a fils de France, was simply as Monsieur. Daughters were referred to by their given name prefaced with the honorific Madame, while sons were referred to by their peerage title. The kings eldest daughter was known as Madame Royale until she married, the illegitimate children of French kings, dauphins, and princes du sang were not entitled to any rights or styles per se, but often they were legitimised by their fathers. Even then, however, they were never elevated to the rank of fils de France, all enfants de France were entitled to the style of Royal Highness from the reign of Louis XIII. However, in practice that formal honorific was less used than the more traditionally French styles of Monsieur. The styles of the family varied as follows, Under the Valois monarchs. Philip VI made his eldest son Duke of Normandy and his second son Duke of Orléans, john II made his eldest son Duke of Normandy, and his younger sons dukes of Anjou, Berry, and Burgundy. Anjou and Burgundy established long-lived dynasties, while the Duke of Berry lived for a long time, Orléans was reused for the younger son of Charles V, while Berry was reused for the younger son of Charles VII. By the accession of Francis I, all of the cadet branches descended from Valois kings had succeeded to the throne or become extinct. Thus the king had a selection of traditional titles to choose from. Orléans was the most preferred, followed by Anjou, the Bourbon kings followed the traditional titling, with Berry used for the third son. As lifespans extended, Burgundy was used for the eldest son of the Dauphin, but as fortune would have it, only the title of Orléans would be transmitted hereditarily until the Revolution. This was a form of address for the dauphin, the dauphin de France, was the title used for the heir apparent to the throne of France from 1350 to 1791 and then from 1824 to 1830. Louis de France, son of the preceding, who became the dauphin in 1711, was known as le Petit Dauphin. This was another way of addressing Le Grand Dauphin, the legitimate son of Louis XIV

24.
Elisabeth Farnese
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Elisabeth Farnese was Queen of Spain by marriage to King Philip V. She exerted great influence over Spains foreign policy and was the de facto ruler of Spain from 1714 until 1746, from 1759 until 1760, she governed as regent. Elisabeth was born at the Palazzo della Pilotta in Parma, daughter of Odoardo Farnese, Elisabeth would later become the heiress of her fathers dominions after her uncle Francesco Farnese, Duke of Parma and his younger brother both remained childless. Elisabeth was raised in seclusion in an apartment in the Palace in Parma and she had a difficult relationship with her mother, but was reportedly deeply devoted to her uncle-stepfather. She was a student within dance, studied painting under Pierantonio Avanzini and enjoyed music. She survived a virulent attack of smallpox shortly after the War of the Spanish Succession and she was therefore made many marriage proposals. Victor Amadeus, Prince of Piedmont and Francesco dEste, Hereditary Prince of Modena both asked for her hand but negotiations failed, as well as Prince Pio della Mirandola. The Duchy of Parma would later be inherited by her first son, after his accession to the Spanish throne, the title passed on to her third son, Infante Felipe. It was he who founded the modern day House of Bourbon-Parma, on 16 September 1714 she was married by proxy at Parma to Philip V of Spain. The marriage was arranged by the ambassador of Parma, Cardinal Alberoni, with the concurrence of the Princesse des Ursins, Elisabeth was a natural choice for Philip V because of the traditional Spanish interests in Italian provinces, as she was the heir of the Parmesan throne. Elisabeth left Parma in September and traveled to Spain by land in a retinue led by Marquis Schotta, originally intended to travel by sea, she became ill in Genova, and the plans were therefore altered. On her way to Spain, she met the Prince of Monaco and the French ambassador, Elisabeth spent several days in Bayonne in November as guest of her maternal aunt, the Queen Dowager Maria Anna of Spain. At the Franco-Spanish border, she was met by Alberoni, who spent several days warning her against des Ursins, upon entrance to Spain, she refused to part with her Italian retinue in exchange with a Spanish one, as had originally been planned. On 23 December at Jadraque, Elisabeth met the Princesse des Ursins, the princess had sent out spies who reported that Elisabeth was in fact not at all a timid person who would be easy to control. Elisabeth received des Ursins and asked to speak with her privately, shortly after, the party could hear the sounds of a violent argument, after which des Ursins was arrested, fired, and immediately escorted over the border to France. There have been different versions of this incident, and different suggestions as to how it occurred. Her chief adviser was Alberoni, who guided her as how to protect the interests of herself and Parma, while he himself, Queen Elisabeth quickly obtained complete influence over Philip, who himself wished to be dominated. Reportedly she had physical charm and purposefulness, she was intelligent and could converse, be gay, jovial and charming, the king did not live in his own apartments but in the queens, where he spent the whole night

25.
Madrid
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Madrid is the capital city of the Kingdom of Spain and the largest municipality in both the Community of Madrid and Spain as a whole. The city has a population of almost 3.2 million with an area population of approximately 6.5 million. It is the third-largest city in the European Union after London and Berlin, the municipality itself covers an area of 604.3 km2. Madrid lies on the River Manzanares in the centre of both the country and the Community of Madrid, this community is bordered by the communities of Castile and León. As the capital city of Spain, seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political, economic, the current mayor is Manuela Carmena from Ahora Madrid. Madrid is home to two football clubs, Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid. Madrid is the 17th most liveable city in the according to Monocle magazine. Madrid organises fairs such as FITUR, ARCO, SIMO TCI, while Madrid possesses modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighbourhoods and streets. Cibeles Palace and Fountain have become one of the monument symbols of the city, the first documented reference of the city originates in Andalusan times as the Arabic مجريط Majrīṭ, which was retained in Medieval Spanish as Magerit. A wider number of theories have been formulated on possible earlier origins, according to legend, Madrid was founded by Ocno Bianor and was named Metragirta or Mantua Carpetana. The most ancient recorded name of the city Magerit comes from the name of a built on the Manzanares River in the 9th century AD. Nevertheless, it is speculated that the origin of the current name of the city comes from the 2nd century BC. The Roman Empire established a settlement on the banks of the Manzanares river, the name of this first village was Matrice. In the 8th century, the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula saw the changed to Mayrit, from the Arabic term ميرا Mayra. The modern Madrid evolved from the Mozarabic Matrit, which is still in the Madrilenian gentilic, after the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba, Madrid was integrated in the Taifa of Toledo. With the surrender of Toledo to Alfonso VI of León and Castile, the city was conquered by Christians in 1085, Christians replaced Muslims in the occupation of the centre of the city, while Muslims and Jews settled in the suburbs. The city was thriving and was given the title of Villa, since 1188, Madrid won the right to be a city with representation in the courts of Castile. In 1202, King Alfonso VIII of Castile gave Madrid its first charter to regulate the municipal council, which was expanded in 1222 by Ferdinand III of Castile

26.
Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain
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Maria Teresa Rafaela of Spain was an Infanta of Spain by birth and was later the wife of Louis, Dauphin of France, son of Louis XV of France. She died aged 20, three days after giving birth to a daughter who died in 1748, born at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid in Spain, she was the second daughter of Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese. Baptised María Teresa Antonia Rafaela she was an Infanta of Spain by birth and was granted the style of address of Royal Highness and she was known as María Teresa Rafaela though sometimes just Maria Teresa. Louis XV had instead married Marie Leszczyńska and by her fathered the Dauphin, under the influence of her mother Elisabeth Farnese, María Teresa Rafaela was not to go to France until she reached a more mature age. The Infanta was married to the dauphin by proxy in Madrid on 18 December 1744 and she arrived at Versailles on 21 February 1745. The official marriage took place at the Palace of Versailles on 23 February 1745 and was performed by the Cardinal de Rohan, in France she was known as Marie Thérèse Raphaëlle dEspagne or de Bourbon. The betrothal had been broken off and relations between the two countries had been cold and this latest union was meant to improve links between them both. Addressed as Madame la Dauphine at Versailles, Maria Teresa Rafaela was the highest ranking female in the kingdom after Queen Marie and she was the first Dauphine since the 1712 death of Marie Adélaïde of Savoy. On 24 February the Ball of the Clipped Yew was held in honor of the newlyweds, the event also marked the arrival of Madame de Pompadour at Versailles. The marriage did not get off on a start as it was not consummated on the first night. This was an embarrassment to the young dauphine and as a result her position at court was undermined. Despite this, she had a relationship with the king and queen. Although the dauphine was described as beautiful, dignified, pious and her shy nature further isolated her from the court and she was openly hostile to the king for his affair with Madame de Pompadour. The Dauphin and Dauphine disliked the royal mistress for the way she drew away from Queen Marie Leszczyńska. Finally, the marriage was consummated in September 1745, ending court gossip, the couple became very close and devoted to each other spending most of their time together. On 19 July 1746 at Versailles, Marie Thérèse Raphaëlle gave birth to a daughter and her death on 22 July caused an intense sorrow to the Dauphin, which persisted into his second marriage. Louis XV had to drag his son away from the death bed of his wife. To make matters worse the Dauphine´s Father King Philip V of Spain died just 13 days before her on July 9, the child was baptised Marie Thérèse and was styled as Madame Royale but died at Versailles in 1748

27.
War of the Austrian Succession
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The War of the Austrian Succession involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresas succession to the Habsburg Monarchy. The war included King Georges War in British America, the War of Jenkins Ear, the First Carnatic War in India, the Jacobite rising of 1745 in Scotland, and the First and Second Silesian Wars. Austria was supported by Great Britain and the Dutch Republic, the enemies of France, as well as the Kingdom of Sardinia. France and Prussia were allied with the Electorate of Bavaria, the war ended with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, by which Maria Theresa was confirmed as Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary, but Prussia retained control of Silesia. But the peace was soon to be shattered, when Austrias desire to recapture Silesia intertwined with the political changes in Europe. In 1740, after the death of her father, Charles VI, Maria Theresa succeeded him as Queen of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, Archduchess of Austria and Duchess of Parma. The complications involved in a female Habsburg ruler had been long foreseen, problems began when King Frederick II of Prussia violated the Pragmatic Sanction and invaded Silesia on 16 December 1740, using the 1537 Treaty of Brieg as a pretext. For much of the century, France approached its wars in the same way. It would let its colonies defend themselves, or would offer only minimal help, similarly, several long land borders made an effective domestic army imperative for any ruler of France. At the end of the war, France gave back its European conquests, the British—by inclination as well as for pragmatic reasons—had tended to avoid large-scale commitments of troops on the Continent. For the War of the Austrian Succession, the British were allied with Austria, by the time of the Seven Years War, they were allied with its enemy, Prussia. In marked contrast to France, Britain strove to prosecute the war in the colonies once it became involved in the war. The British pursued a strategy of naval blockade and bombardment of enemy ports. They would harass enemy shipping and attack enemy outposts, frequently using colonists from nearby British colonies in the effort and this plan worked better in North America than in Europe, but set the stage for the Seven Years War. Prince Frederick had been only 28 years of age on 31 May 1740 when his father, Frederick William I died, neither Frederick nor his father had ever been fond of Austria and its various snubs against Prussia. Emperor Charles VI had made provision for the succession of his daughter, in support of his invasion of Silesia, Frederick also used a questionable interpretation of a treaty between the Hohenzollerns and the Piasts of Brieg as pretext. In particular, Frederick feared that Augustus III, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, was preparing to seize Silesia for himself to unite Saxony and Poland. The only recent combat experience of the Prussian Army was their participation in the War of the Polish Succession, accordingly, the Prussian Army had an uninspiring reputation and was counted as one of the many minor armies of the Holy Roman Empire

28.
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)
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The resulting treaty was signed on 18 October 1748 by Great Britain, France, and the Dutch Republic. Two implementation treaties were signed at Nice on 4 December 1748 and 21 January 1749 by Austria, Spain, Sardinia, Modena, France withdrew from the Austrian Netherlands but had some of its colonies returned. France regained Cape Breton Island, lost during the war, and it returned the city of Madras in India to Great Britain. Maria Theresa ceded the Duchy of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla in present-day Italy to Spain, the Duchy of Modena and the Republic of Genoa, conquered by Austria, were restored. The Asiento contract, which had guaranteed to Great Britain in 1713 through the Treaty of Utrecht, was renewed. Spain later raised objections to the Asiento clauses, and the Treaty of Madrid, signed on 5 October 1750, for the most part, the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and the War of Austrian Succession concluded status quo ante bellum. In the commercial struggle between Britain and France in the West Indies, Africa, and India, nothing was settled, the treaty was thus no basis for a lasting peace. By the same token, British colonists in New England and merchants back in Great Britain resented the return of Louisbourg to the French after they had captured the stronghold in a 46-day siege and this resentment was an early seed of the later American Revolution. In fact, Britain had exchanged Louisbourg so that France would withdraw from the Netherlands, Madras, captured by French Admiral La Bourdonnais in 1746, was returned to Britain likewise. In Austria, reactions to the peace were mixed, ostensibly, the source of the long, bitter War of Austrian Succession, this sanction was upheld by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. The Austrians had saved Bohemia and the duchy of Milan, conceding only minor concessions in Italy, Maria Theresa was also happy that France had given back the Austrian Netherlands that it had conquered. Overall, she referred to the war as a miracle as she had saved her Empire from destruction, however, she was very upset by the loss of the rich province of Silesia at the hand of Prussia. Britains support for this repossession at Aix-la-Chapelle spurned Kaunitz to establish an alliance with Austrias traditional enemy, France. In the West Indies, the treaty did little to address possession of the islands, European powers had long pursued control of the Americas, viewing them as well-needed resources and proof of power. Spain, the Netherlands, France and Britain all had unresolved tensions following settlements like the Treaty of Breda, the Treaty of Westminster, by 1713, the islands of Saint Lucia and Tobago were the subjects of Anglo-Franco conflict. However, the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle declared neutrality in Tobago, Grenada, Saint Vincent and Dominica, allowing all European powers unfettered economic access, in addition, France gained Saint Lucia as a colony. In contrast to French and British unhappiness with the treaty, Italy gained stability for the first time in the 18th century. The new territorial settlement and the accession of the peaceful Ferdinand VI of Spain allowed the Aix settlement to last until the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1792

29.
Maria Theresa
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Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, by marriage, she was Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany and Holy Roman Empress. She started her 40-year reign when her father, Emperor Charles VI, Charles VI paved the way for her accession with the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 and spent his entire reign securing it. Upon the death of her father, Saxony, Prussia, Bavaria, Prussia proceeded to invade the affluent Habsburg province of Silesia, sparking a nine-year conflict known as the War of the Austrian Succession, and subsequently conquered it. Maria Theresa would later try to reconquer Silesia during the Seven Years War. Of the sixteen, ten survived to adulthood and she had eleven daughters and five sons. She criticised and disapproved of many of Josephs actions, Maria Theresa understood the importance of her public persona and was able to simultaneously evoke both esteem and affection from her subjects. However, she refused to allow religious toleration and contemporary travelers thought her regime was bigoted and superstitious. As a young monarch who fought two wars, she believed that her cause should be the cause of her subjects. The dowager empresses, her aunt Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg and grandmother Eleonor Magdalene of the Palatinate-Neuburg, were her godmothers and her father was the only surviving male member of the House of Habsburg and hoped for a son who would prevent the extinction of his dynasty and succeed him. Thus, the birth of Maria Theresa was a disappointment to him. Charles sought the other European powers approval for disinheriting his nieces and they exacted harsh terms, in the Treaty of Vienna, Great Britain demanded that Austria abolish the Ostend Company in return for its recognition of the Pragmatic Sanction. France, Spain, Saxony-Poland, Bavaria and Prussia later reneged, little more than a year after her birth, Maria Theresa was joined by a sister, Maria Anna, and another one, named Maria Amalia, was born in 1724. The portraits of the family show that Maria Theresa resembled Elisabeth Christine. The Prussian ambassador noted that she had blue eyes, fair hair with a slight tinge of red, a wide mouth. Unlike many other members of the House of Habsburg, neither Maria Theresas parents nor her grandparents were closely related to each other, Maria Theresa was a serious and reserved child who enjoyed singing and archery. She was barred from riding by her father, but she would later learn the basics for the sake of her Hungarian coronation ceremony. The imperial family staged opera productions, often conducted by Charles VI and her education was overseen by Jesuits

30.
Madame de Pompadour
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She took charge of the king’s schedule and was a valued aide and advisor, despite her frail health and many political enemies. She secured titles of nobility for herself and her relatives, and built a network of clients and she was particularly careful not to alienate the Queen, Marie Leszczyńska. On February 8,1756, the Marquise de Pompadour was named as the lady in waiting to the queen, a position considered the most prestigious at the court. She was a patron of architecture and decorative arts, such as porcelain. She was a patron of the philosophes of the Enlightenment, including Voltaire, Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, otherwise known as Reinette to her friends, was born on 29 December 1721 in Paris to François Poisson and his wife Madeleine de La Motte. It is suspected that her father was either the rich financier Pâris de Montmartel or the tax collector Le Normant de Tournehem. Her younger brother was Abel-François Poisson de Vandières, who became the Marquis de Marigny. Poisson was intelligent, beautiful and refined and she spent her early childhood at the Ursuline convent in Poissy where she received a good education. At the age of 9 in 1730 she returned to Paris under the care of her mother Madame Poisson, the fortune teller told her then that she would one day be the mistress of King Louis XV. From then on Madame Poisson thought, her daughter was destined for greatness and she must provide the means and opportunities to help her achieve it. So her mother took charge of her education at home by hiring tutors who taught her to recite entire plays by heart, play the clavichord, dance, sing, paint. She became an actress and singer, and also attended Pariss Club de lEntresol. On 15 December 1740, Tournehem made his nephew his sole heir, disinheriting all his nephews and nieces. These included the estate at Étiolles, a gift from her guardian. With her husband, she had two children, a boy who died a year after his birth in 1741 and Alexandrine-Jeanne, born 10 August 1744 and died June 1754. Contemporary opinion supported by artwork from the considered the young Mme dÉtiolles to be beautiful, with her small mouth. Her young husband was soon infatuated with her and she was celebrated in the world of Paris. She founded her own salon, at Étiolles, and was joined by many philosophes, as Jeanne Antoinette became known in society, King Louis XV came to hear of her

31.
Fontainebleau
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Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located 55.5 kilometres south-southeast of the centre of Paris, Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau. The commune has the largest land area in the Île-de-France region, Fontainebleau, together with the neighbouring commune of Avon and three other smaller communes, form an urban area of 39,713 inhabitants. This urban area is a satellite of Paris, inhabitants of Fontainebleau are called Bellifontains. Fontainebleau has been recorded in different Latinised forms, such as, Fons Bleaudi, Fons Bliaudi, Fons Blaadi in the 12th and 13th centuries and it became Fons Bellaqueus in the 17th century, which gave rise to the name of the inhabitants as Bellifontains. The name originates as a composite of two words, Fontaine– meaning spring, or fountainhead, followed by a person’s Germanic name Blizwald. This hamlet was endowed with a hunting lodge and a chapel by Louis VII in the middle of the twelfth century. A century later, Louis IX, also called Saint Louis, who held Fontainebleau in high esteem and referred to it as his wilderness, had a country house, philip the Fair was born there in 1268 and died there in 1314. In all, thirty-four sovereigns, from Louis VI, the Fat, to Napoleon III, the connection between the town of Fontainebleau and the French monarchy was reinforced with the transformation of the royal country house into a true royal palace, the Palace of Fontainebleau. On 18 October 1685, Louis XIV signed the Edict of Fontainebleau there, the result was that a large number of Protestants were forced to convert to the Catholic faith, killed, or forced into exile, mainly in the Low Countries, Prussia and in England. The 1762 Treaty of Fontainebleau, an agreement between France and Spain concerning the Louisiana territory in North America, was concluded here. Also, preliminary negotiations, held before the 1763 Treaty of Paris was signed, during the French Revolution, Fontainebleau was temporarily renamed Fontaine-la-Montagne, meaning Fountain by the Mountain. On 20 June 1812, Pope Pius VII arrived at the château of Fontainebleau, after a transfer from Savona, accompanied by his personal physician. In poor health, the Pope was the prisoner of Napoleon, from June 1812 until 23 January 1814, the Pope never left his apartments. According to contemporary sources, the occasion was very moving, the 1814 Treaty of Fontainebleau stripped Napoleon of his powers and sent him into exile on Elba. Until the 19th century, Fontainebleau was a village and a suburb of Avon, later, it developed as an independent residential city. For the 1924 Summer Olympics, the town played host to the portion of the modern pentathlon event. This event took place near a golf course, Fontainebleau also hosted the general staff of the Allied Forces in Central Europe and the land forces command, the air forces command was located nearby at Camp Guynemer

32.
Ducal Palace of Colorno
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The Ducal Palace, also known as Reggia di Colorno, is an edifice in the territory of Colorno, Emilia Romagna, Italy. It was built by Francesco Farnese, Duke of Parma in the early 18th century on the remains of a former castle, a Rocca was built on the site by Azzo da Correggio as a defence of the Po River. After the beheading of Barbara Sanseverino by the Duke Ranuccio Farnese, Ranuccio II and his wife Margherita Violante began a complete reconstruction that was completed under their son Francesco, directed by architect Ferdinando Bibbiena. The palace was the home of the defunct Enrichetta dEste, widow of Antonio Farnese, in the 18th century, Duke Philip commissioned its restoration by the French architect Ennemond Alexandre Petitot, and tried to emulate in the interior the decor of the Palace of Versailles. Philip was married to Princess Louise Élisabeth of France, who was the eldest daughter of Louis XV of France. On November 28,1807, after the annexation of the Duchy of Parma to the French Empire, after the Congress of Vienna, the duchy went to Marie Louise, Napoleons wife, who made the Reggia her favourite residence and created a wide English-style garden. After the unification of Italy, it became a possession, and in 1870 it was acquired by the province of Parma, and is now home to ALMA. The first park dates from that of 1480, commissioned by count Roberto Sanseverino, under Francesco Farnese it was renovated with a mix of French- and Italian-style landscape garden, which was further modified by Duchess Marie Louise. Damaged during World War II, it has recently returned to its antique splendour by a restoration

33.
Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis
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Saint-Denis is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 9.4 km from the centre of Paris, Saint-Denis is a subprefecture of the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, being the seat of the arrondissement of Saint-Denis. Saint-Denis is home to the necropolis of the Basilica of Saint Denis and was also the location of the associated abbey. It is also home to Frances national football and rugby stadium, Saint-Denis is a formerly industrial suburb currently changing its economic base. Inhabitants of Saint-Denis are called Dionysiens, until the 3rd century, Saint-Denis was a small settlement called Catolacus or Catulliacum, probably meaning estate of Catullius, a Gallo-Roman landowner. About 250 AD, the first bishop of Paris, Saint Denis, was martyred on Montmartre hill, shortly after 250 his grave became a shrine and a pilgrimage centre, with the building of the Abbey of Saint Denis, and the settlement was renamed Saint-Denis. In 1793, during the French Revolution, Saint-Denis was renamed Franciade in a gesture of rejection of religion, in 1803, however, under the Consulate of Napoléon Bonaparte, the city reverted to its former name of Saint-Denis. During its history, Saint-Denis has been associated with the French royal house. Starting from Dagobert I, almost every French king was buried in the Basilica, however, Saint-Denis is older than that. In the 2nd century, there was a Gallo-Roman village named Catolacus on the location that Saint-Denis occupies today, Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris and patron saint of France, was martyred in about 250 and buried in the cemetery of Catolacus. Denis tomb quickly became a place of worship, around 475, Sainte Geneviève had a small chapel erected on Denis tomb, which by then had become a popular destination for pilgrims. It was this chapel that Dagobert I had rebuilt and turned into a royal monastery, during the Middle Ages, because of the privileges granted by Dagobert, Saint-Denis grew to become very important. Merchants from all over Europe came to visit its market, in 1140, Abbot Suger, counselor to the King, granted further privileges to the citizens of Saint-Denis. He also started the work of enlarging the Basilica of Saint Denis that still exists today, the new church was consecrated in 1144. Saint-Denis suffered heavily in the Hundred Years War, of its 10,000 citizens, during the French Wars of Religion, the Battle of Saint-Denis was fought between Catholics and Protestants on 10 November 1567. The Protestants were defeated, but the Catholic commander Anne de Montmorency was killed, in 1590, the city surrendered to Henry IV, who converted to Catholicism in 1593 in the abbey of Saint-Denis. King Louis XIV started several industries in Saint-Denis, weaving and spinning mills and dyehouses. His successor, Louis XV, whose daughter was a nun in the Carmelite convent, took a lively interest in the city, he added a chapel to the convent and also renovated the buildings of the royal abbey

34.
Giuseppe Baldrighi
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Giuseppe Baldrighi was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque and early Neoclassic periods. Born in the town of Stradella, in Lombardy, Giuseppe Baldrighi initially trained with a painter in Naples. By 1750, he was recruited into the Accademia Clementina of Bologna and he was the recruited to Parma, perhaps due to his skill at miniature paintings by Du Tillot, minister of Philip of Bourbon, and sent to study in Paris from 1752 to 1756. Here, he likely encountered François Boucher, Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Joseph Duplessis, Joseph Duplessis, and Alexandre-François Desportes, in 1756 he became professor of the Academy of Fine Arts, and painter to the court of Parma. He actively painted for the Ducal family portraits and a Triumph of the Faith for the chapel of Colorno Palace in 1777 and he died in Parma in 1803. Biography for Goya exhibition Fiere, lupi e cavalli, il bestiario dipinto di Giuseppe Baldrighi Lomaggio al pittore nel bicentenario della morte, dictionary of Painters and Engravers, Biographical and Critical. York St. #4, Covent Garden, London, Original from Fogg Library, Digitized May 18,2007, George Bell and Sons

35.
Guillaume du Tillot
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At a time when both Bourbon France and Bourbon Spain thought of Parma as a strategic point of interest, Tillot favoured French policies abroad and wide-ranging reforms within the Duchy of Parma. He was made marchese di Felino, Tillots career was of his own making. He organised fêtes for Philippe at Chambéry and elsewhere, in this role, Tillot promoted all forms of French musical theater at the court. The opera premiered at the Teatro Ducale in Parma on 9 May 1759, Tillots capabilities were soon rewarded with the position of minister of public finance, and then of first minister. His ministry, modernizing and liberalizing the Duchys official functions, helped boost its economy, on 20 June 1764, Tillot was made marchese di Felino, receiving its lands as well as those of San Michele Tiorre. Tillot, like a latter-day Colbert, reorganized Parmesan luxury productions, gloves, velvet and other fine textiles and he enticed from France and Switzerland masterworkers in these crafts, to teach their arts locally. Out of the Ducal purse, he conceded tax relief, patronage and financial support for the new industries, and offered state pensions for craftsmen who had taken on apprentices in Parma. In agriculture, partly in response to the years of 1763-67. For the better flow of people and goods, he improved roads and bridges, canalised waterways, in these undertakings he was aided by the longest period of peace Italy had known. Tillot placed his influence with the Bourbon courts of France, Spain and Naples, in reducing antiquated ecclesiastical privileges, the Roman Inquisition was abolished in the territories of Parma, and some decayed monasteries were secularised. Pope Clement XIII condemned the expulsion of the Jesuits from Parma, along with the reorganisation of the ducal library, Tillot assembled his private one, in which the works of the Encyclopédistes and the Encyclopédie were to be found. Tillot instituted an Académie des Beaux Arts, a museum of Antiquities, a ducal printing-press, which produced the Gazzetta di Parma. He reorganised the University of Parma, one of Europes oldest, from its somnolence, for a spell it ranked among the progressive universities of Italy, with Milan, Pavia. Petitot survived Tillots disgrace, took over Tillots early employment as master of ceremonies, in 1756, Tillot invited to court Guillaume Rouby de Cals, whom he employed first in the financial administration, then as his personal secretary and aide. Rouby de Cals directed the first manufactory of military cloth in Parma, in Borgo San Donnino, now Fidenza. He had made political enemies in the Church, and the new Duchess effected a shift away from Bourbon influences towards conservative Austria, though his replacement. Tillot was confined under house arrest to his properties at Colorno and he fled on 19 November 1771, intending to reach Spain, but ended his days in retirement in France, where he died in 1774. Benassi, Guglielmo du Tillot, Un ministro riformatore del secolo XVIII, alessandro Cont, Il potere della tradizione

36.
Austrian Netherlands
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The Austrian Netherlands was the Southern Netherlands between 1714 and 1797. Austria, however, did not relinquish its claim over the province until 1797 in the Treaty of Campo Formio, the Austrian Netherlands was a noncontiguous territory that consisted of what is now western Belgium as well as greater Luxembourg, bisected by the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. The dominant languages were German, Dutch, and French, along with Picard, the result of the Barrier Treaty was that the Holy Roman emperor Charles VI did not have a lot to say about his Austrian Netherlands. This caused quite a lot of frustration with the Austrians, especially because the Dutch troops they had to allow were paid with money raised by the Austrian Netherlands themselves and this would last until empress Maria Theresa refused to pay for those troops any longer. The war of 1740-1748 showed that the fortifications manned with Dutch troops were not highly maintained, when Austria and France entered into an alliance in 1756, there was virtually no use for the barrier treaty anymore. In 1781 Emperor Joseph II of Austria unilaterally abolished the treaty, under the Treaty of Rastatt, following the War of the Spanish Succession, the surviving portions of the Spanish Netherlands were ceded to Austria. The Austrians were unconcerned with the upkeep of their province and the fortresses along the border were, by treaty, the area had, in fact, been given to Austria largely at British and Dutch insistence, as these powers feared potential French domination of the region. Charles VI attempted to use the Austrian Netherlands to compete with British, however, the agreement was later revoked by the Treaty of Versailles of 1758 and Austrian rule continued. However, the Emperors stance was far from militant, and he called off hostilities after the so-called Kettle War, known by that name because its only casualty was a kettle. In the 1780s, opposition emerged to the reforms of Emperor Joseph II, which were perceived as an attack on the Catholic Church. Resistance, focused in the autonomous and wealthy Estates of Brabant and Flanders, in the aftermath of rioting and disruption, known as the Small Revolution, in 1787, many of opponents took refuge in the neighboring Dutch Republic where they formed a rebel army. Soon after the outbreak of the French and Liège revolutions, the army crossed into the Austrian Netherlands. The rebels, supported by uprisings across the territory, soon took control over much of the territory, despite the tacit support of Prussia, the independent United Belgian States, established in January 1790, received no foreign recognition and soon became divided along ideological lines. The Vonckists, led by Jan Frans Vonck, advocated progressive and liberal government, whereas the Statists, led by Hendrik Van der Noot, were staunchly conservative, the Statists, who had a wider base of support, soon drove the Vonckists into exile through a terror. By mid-1790, Habsburg Austria ended its war with the Ottoman Empire, the new Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold II, was also a liberal and proposed an amnesty for the rebels. After defeating a Statist army at the Battle of Falmagne, the territory was soon overrun, the Austrian reestablishment was short-lived, however, and the territory was soon overrun by the French during the French Revolutionary Wars. In 1794, the armies of the French Revolution annexed the Austrian Netherlands and integrated them into the French Republic

37.
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
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Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I and he was thus the first ruler in the Austrian dominions of the House of Lorraine, styled Habsburg-Lorraine. He has been ranked, with Catherine the Great of Russia and Frederick the Great of Prussia and his policies are now known as Josephinism. He died with no sons and was succeeded by his younger brother, Joseph was born in the midst of the early upheavals of the War of the Austrian Succession. His real education was given to him through the writings of Voltaire and the Encyclopédistes and he married Princess Isabella of Parma in October 1760, a union fashioned to bolster the 1756 defensive pact between France and Austria. Joseph loved his bride, Isabella, finding her both stimulating and charming, and she sought, with care to cultivate his favor. The marriage of Joseph and Isabella resulted in the birth of a daughter, Isabella was fearful of pregnancy and early death. Her own pregnancy proved difficult as she suffered symptoms of pain, illness. She remained bedridden for six weeks after their daughters birth, almost immediately on the back of their newfound parenthood, the couple then endured two consecutive miscarriages—an ordeal particularly hard on Isabella—followed quickly by another pregnancy. Pregnancy was again provoking melancholy, fears and dread in Isabella, progressively ill with smallpox and strained by sudden childbirth and tragedy, Isabella died the following week. This marriage proved unhappy, albeit brief, as it lasted only two years. Though Maria Josepha loved her husband, she felt timid and inferior in his company, lacking common interests or pleasures, the relationship offered little for Joseph, who confessed he felt no love for her in return. He adapted by distancing himself from his wife to the point of near total avoidance, seeing her only at meals, Maria Josepha, in turn, suffered considerable misery in finding herself locked in a cold, loveless union. Four months after the anniversary of their wedding, Maria Josepha grew ill. Joseph neither visited her during her illness nor attended her funeral, though he expressed regret for not having shown her better kindness. One thing the union did provide him was the possibility of laying claim to a portion of Bavaria. In 1770, at the age of seven, Josephs only surviving child, Maria Theresa, became ill with pleurisy, the loss of his daughter was deeply traumatic for him and left him profoundly grief-stricken and scarred. He was made a member of the council of state

38.
French Revolution
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Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history, the causes of the French Revolution are complex and are still debated among historians. Following the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War, the French government was deeply in debt, Years of bad harvests leading up to the Revolution also inflamed popular resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy. Demands for change were formulated in terms of Enlightenment ideals and contributed to the convocation of the Estates-General in May 1789, a central event of the first stage, in August 1789, was the abolition of feudalism and the old rules and privileges left over from the Ancien Régime. The next few years featured political struggles between various liberal assemblies and right-wing supporters of the intent on thwarting major reforms. The Republic was proclaimed in September 1792 after the French victory at Valmy, in a momentous event that led to international condemnation, Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. External threats closely shaped the course of the Revolution, internally, popular agitation radicalised the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins. Large numbers of civilians were executed by revolutionary tribunals during the Terror, after the Thermidorian Reaction, an executive council known as the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795. The rule of the Directory was characterised by suspended elections, debt repudiations, financial instability, persecutions against the Catholic clergy, dogged by charges of corruption, the Directory collapsed in a coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution, almost all future revolutionary movements looked back to the Revolution as their predecessor. The values and institutions of the Revolution dominate French politics to this day, the French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity. Globally, the Revolution accelerated the rise of republics and democracies and it became the focal point for the development of all modern political ideologies, leading to the spread of liberalism, radicalism, nationalism, socialism, feminism, and secularism, among many others. The Revolution also witnessed the birth of total war by organising the resources of France, historians have pointed to many events and factors within the Ancien Régime that led to the Revolution. Over the course of the 18th century, there emerged what the philosopher Jürgen Habermas called the idea of the sphere in France. A perfect example would be the Palace of Versailles which was meant to overwhelm the senses of the visitor and convince one of the greatness of the French state and Louis XIV. Starting in the early 18th century saw the appearance of the sphere which was critical in that both sides were active. In France, the emergence of the public sphere outside of the control of the saw the shift from Versailles to Paris as the cultural capital of France. In the 1750s, during the querelle des bouffons over the question of the quality of Italian vs, in 1782, Louis-Sébastien Mercier wrote, The word court no longer inspires awe amongst us as in the time of Louis XIV

39.
Marie Antoinette
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Marie Antoinette (/ˈmæriˌæntwəˈnɛt/, /ˌɑ̃ːntwə-/, /ˌɑ̃ːtwə-/, US /məˈriː-/, French, born Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna, was the last Queen of France and Navarre before the French Revolution. She was born an Archduchess of Austria, and was the fifteenth and second youngest child of Empress Maria Theresa and Francis I, in April 1770, upon her marriage to Louis-Auguste, heir apparent to the French throne, she became Dauphine of France. After eight years of marriage, Marie Antoinette gave birth to a daughter, Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, the Diamond Necklace affair damaged her reputation further. On 10 August 1792, the attack on the Tuileries forced the family to take refuge at the Assembly. On 21 September 1792, the monarchy was abolished, after a two-day trial begun on 14 October 1793, Marie Antoinette was convicted by the Revolutionary Tribunal of high treason, and executed by guillotine on Place de la Révolution on 16 October 1793. Maria Antonia was born on 2 November 1755, at the Hofburg Palace and she was the youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa, ruler of the Habsburg Empire, and her husband Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. Her godparents were Joseph I and Mariana Victoria, King and Queen of Portugal, Archduke Joseph, shortly after her birth, she was placed under the care of the Governess of the Imperial children, Countess von Brandeis. Maria Antonia was raised with her older sister Maria Carolina. As to her relationship with her mother, it was difficult, despite the private tutoring she received, results of her schooling were less than satisfactory. At the age of ten she could not write correctly in German or in any language used at court, such as French. Under the teaching of Christoph Willibald Gluck, Maria Antonia developed into a good musician and she learned to play the harp, the harpsichord and the flute. During the familys gatherings in the evenings, she would sing and she also excelled at dancing, had an exquisite poise, and loved dolls. Following the Seven Years War and the Diplomatic Revolution of 1756, Empress Maria Theresa decided to end hostilities with her longtime enemy, on 14 May she met her husband at the edge of the forest of Compiègne. Upon her arrival in France, she adopted the French version of her name, a further ceremonial wedding took place on 16 May 1770 in the Palace of Versailles and, after the festivities, the day ended with the ritual bedding. The lack of consummation of the marriage plagued the reputation of both Louis-Auguste and Marie Antoinette for the seven years. The initial reaction to the marriage between Marie Antoinette and Louis-Auguste was mixed, on the one hand, the Dauphine was beautiful, personable and well-liked by the common people. Her first official appearance in Paris on 8 June 1773 was a resounding success, on the other hand, those opposed to the alliance with Austria, and others, for personal reasons, had a difficult relationship with Marie Antoinette. Madame du Barry, for example, was Louis XVs mistress and had political influence over him

Louis XIV visits the Gobelins with Colbert, 15 October 1667. Tapestry from the series, "Histoire du roi" designed by Charles Le Brun and woven between 1667 and 1672. Articles of Louis XIV's silver furniture are seen in this tapestry.

Historical reenactment in Fontainebleau of the bicentenary of Napoleon's Farewell to the Old Guard, April 20th of 2014. Napoleon is going down the famous stairs of Fontainebleau castle to meet with the Old Guard.